Officer Escobar, standing at the same respectful distance from the woman as he always had, had not grinned sheepishly since he was fifteen years old. Nor was he known as much of a blusher. And, in fact, he did neither of these things. But he still turned away, just to be safe.

CLICK. The handcuffs were off. The woman stood up, her unpleasant garment brushing past Peter’s face. She stretched, causing her body to make a series of unpleasant-sounding SNAPs and CREAKs that were not entirely different from the noise it had made when Peter turned the key in the tiny lock. No matter how painful the stretch sounded, however, the old woman appeared to enjoy it immensely.

Peter snatched key and handcuffs from the ground. He wanted to be rid of them as soon as possible, and it wasn’t like he was busy being showered with praise. He brought them over to where the policeman had posted himself and deposited them in his hands. “Thank you.”

Escobar nodded gruffly. He wanted to stay longer, to see what the woman would do. But it appeared that she was fully occupied savoring her newfound freedom, and it didn’t look like she was going to do anything of interest for a while. Besides, he had other things to take care of, such as figuring out how he would explain—or, preferably, not explain—the role he had played in setting loose the woman Officer Tang had called, “the Arrest of the Century.”

He tipped his cap, said, “Ma’am” in perhaps the most business-like voice he had ever used in his entire life, and departed.

Peter would have liked to take off, too, but he had no choice. There was something he had to find out.

He returned to the pillar, where the woman was doing some kind of victory dance. “So, you’re free. Am I?”